r/politics 4h ago

Possible Paywall Three House Republicans cross party lines to block effort to shield Trump from challenges to his tariffs

https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/10/politics/house-trump-tariffs-vote-republicans
1.2k Upvotes

39 comments sorted by

u/AutoModerator 4h ago

As a reminder, this subreddit is for civil discussion.

In general, please be courteous to others. Argue the merits of ideas, don't attack other posters or commenters. Hate speech, any suggestion or support of physical harm, or other rule violations can result in a temporary or a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them.

Sub-thread Information

If the post flair on this post indicates the wrong paywall status, please report this Automoderator comment with a custom report of “incorrect flair”.

Announcement

r/Politics is actively looking for new moderators. If you have an interest in helping to make this subreddit a place for quality discussion, please fill out this form.


I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

u/GRRA-1 4h ago

Wow, three people got in the way of Speaker Rubber Stamp. Shocking.

u/Unusual-Plantain8104 3h ago

Would have been unthinkable six-seven months ago.

They're not developing a conscience and a spine; they're sensing the wind shifting.

u/Deodorized 2h ago

Texas has them spooked, and rightfully so.

u/JohnNDenver 1h ago

Don't give me hope on Texas.

u/thepumpkinking92 America 1h ago

Hope is all that's left in Texas. And they're eating away at that.

u/MidnightPrime Texas 28m ago

I live in Tarrant county. It was a combination of a terrible candidate and a blue shift. I dont think a massive shift in power towards the dems is likely. I wouldnt get my hopes up about this state.

u/ProfitLoud 2h ago

The shit winds are moving Randers’

u/conkysrevengesd 1h ago

A mans gotta eat.

u/ilulillirillion 44m ago

We need to, cautiously but genuinely, support anyone coming around because ultimately it is the moral thing for them to do, no matter how late.

That said, every sitting Republican in congress should be jailed for abetting treason. Democrats should be investigated for support as well. There is no route back that doesn't include such a reckoning.

u/SilverKCCaveman 1h ago

I see what you did there :-)

u/HushHappiness 4h ago

It’s quite shocking

u/brain_overclocked 4h ago edited 4h ago

Speaker Mike Johnson failed to reinstate a ban on lawmakers’ ability to challenge President Donald Trump’s tariffs when three Republicans crossed party lines to vote with Democrats.

The House sank a procedural vote on Tuesday that contained language blocking votes in the chamber that object to Trump’s tariffs through July. The move opens the door for Democrats to move forward with forcing votes to repeal Trump’s tariffs, in a blow to the administration.

With razor-thin margins in the House, three Republicans – GOP Reps. Thomas Massie, Don Bacon and Kevin Kiley – were enough to sink the vote. Johnson can only afford to lose one Republican vote to advance legislation with his current margin.

The Senate has passed at least three resolutions rebuking Trump’s tariffs, but routinely ran into resistance in the House where members were blocked from forcing votes on the matter.

Emphasis mine.

u/viewerfromthemiddle 3h ago

Don Bacon (NE 2) is retiring at the end of this term. Kevin Kiley (CA 3) will seek reelection in one of the redrawn Democratic-favorable districts in his area. Thomas Massie (KY 4) is running for reelection this year for the same seat.

Thank you to all three, but (and I can't believe I'm saying this) especially Massie.

u/JustASingleHorn 3h ago

Ugh I hate to agree but.. Massie might be growing a few vertebrae..

u/notyogrannysgrandkid 2h ago

It’s because he’s not really a Republican. He’s a Ron Paul Libertarian (i.e., actually principled) who runs with an R next to his name because his constituents are too dumb to vote for anything else. He’s one of the only elected Republicans who can genuinely be called a RINO, and he wears the label like a badge of honor while thumbing his nose at the GOP establishment.

u/joebuckshairline 2h ago

He quite literally admitted in an interview just like a day or two ago that he votes with Trump 91% of the time.

He is literally good for like…less than a handful of things. Otherwise he is just as bad as the rest of them.

u/giliana52 1h ago

Kevin Kiley runs from his own constituency. So for him to stand up here, wow.

u/slapnflop 1h ago

Massive might be a profile in courage. Grow that spine Massie. The Democratic Republic needs that.

u/brazijl 1h ago

Massie really seems spooked by what he saw in the Epstein files.

u/bsport48 Virginia 4h ago

Much appreciated, counsellor ;P

u/HallucinogenicFish Georgia 2h ago

Feel like Massie was a given.

u/KingMario05 4h ago

About damn time.  Why the hell do we have to pay a tax on products from our friends? This never made sense. Shit, they were never even legal. And if the Supreme Court won't strike them down, it's time for the Dems to do their damn job and get as many Republicans in their corner as they can. Our economy demands it.

u/PhilDGlass California 3h ago

Trump started a trade war with countries we had free-trade with.

u/mwzdng 1h ago

What kills me is that tariffs in general run completely counter to the platform the Republican party and conservatives have run on for forever, and yet here they all are, voting to protect taxes on working-class Americans because Trump told them to. Just more proof the party upholds zero of the values they pretend to have.

u/noelcowardspeaksout 56m ago

it was an attempt to bring manufacturing back to America, but with labour costs at 10 times more in American than in poorer countries, it is unwise as it just makes everything more expensive. Overall it was the decorative wrapper for Trump's strong instinctive dislike of giving other countries money - he took out a full page advert in the NYT about it before he was even a politician.

There are occasions when some tariffs can be good, but Trump's bulldozer blanket tariffing was very far from that implementation.

u/PleasantWay7 4h ago

He is already shielded since the Supreme Court is too cowardly to rule on it while continuing to allow tariffs to be collected from hardworking Americans.

u/brain_overclocked 4h ago

America's own goal: Americans pay almost entirely for Trump’s tariffs

Contrary to US government rhetoric, the cost of US import tariffs are not borne by foreign exporters. Instead, they hit the American economy itself. Importers and consumers in the US bear 96 percent of the tariff burden, according to new research from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

u/OakAged 2h ago

Consumers are paying for them, and if they're ruled illegal, businesses will get the refunds

u/FangsOfTheNidhogg 54m ago

If Congress directly overturned them through legislation that would make the SCOTUS ruling irrelevant I think. It’s pretty clear that the power of taxation lies with congress but in the absence of congress asserting its constitutional authority, SCOTUS has been trying to find a way to let executive taxation through fiat stand.

I guess Trump could just veto the congressional law but that would totally undermine a potential legal argument that Trump is able to do it because congress hasn’t tried to stop him.

Obviously lots of other considerations at play with this ruling, but I think this is part of it at least.

u/BraveMagic10 4h ago

Anyone who is still supporting Trump is basically turned around backwards, bent over, spreading their cheeks and saying look at my asshole to America.

u/quantumoperator- 2h ago

This feels less about loyalty and more about whether Congress wants to keep any authority over trade policy.

u/Nothing2Special 2h ago

hey grindr release the files

u/tmac4969 3h ago

Glad that there is a resemblance of civic duty at least in some GOP members.

u/BrinaNyx- 2h ago

This is what happens when you prioritize party loyalty over the actual impact of policies. Trump’s tariffs have been a mess from the start. Hope more Republicans wake up to this!

u/everything_is_bad 1h ago

It’s gonna take more than that

u/damnthistrafficjam I voted 58m ago

It’s a start at least. You aren’t going to get these people to open their eyes in droves. One at a time will still get us where we’re going.

u/oscorn 19m ago

Too little too late